On September 27, 2014, the Special Court Judge John Michael D’Cunha convicted the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha in the more than a decade old Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case. The upright Judge D’Cunha sentenced her to four years in jail and further imposed a stiff fine of Rs 100 crores.
Not surprisingly, Jayalalitha has now procured the services of eminent lawyer Ram
Jethlamani to appeal her case before the higher courts with her bail application being kept for hearing next week amidst the sustained clamour for her release by her loyal supporters who have also undertaken a fast as their form of protest.
But what would be more interesting would be to observe is how many of our Goan politicians, both past and present would meet her fate, especially as many cases of corruption registered against them are presently still under inquiry at the Crime Branch police station in Dona Paula, Panjim.
Despite public utterances made by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of expediting such cases on a priority basis, it is highly doubtful that it will happen unless there is a sustained media campaign to urge the authorities into action from their complacent attitude and forgotten promises made to the Goan electorate prior to the assembly polls of eliminating corruption.
So also, it would be interesting to note how many of the corruption cases registered against various local elected representatives such as Sarpanchas / panchas as well as government officials like panchayat secretaries, transport department clerks and other staff of various other departments, who were caught red-handed while accepting bribes by the CID/Crime Branch or Vigilance department officials have been either convicted or acquitted of their offence?
It is vital that such incidents are followed up to their logical conclusion by a vigilant media especially given the fact that public memory is short and politicians are known to take advantage of this situation despite the various cases of corruption registered against them.
It would be prudent on the part of the media to bring this into public domain and
accordingly spur our dormant law enforcement authorities as well as judicial system into fast tracking such cases so as to clean up our democracy in the same manner of the ongoing “Swachh Bharat Nitol Goem” cleanliness campaign!
